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2 men charged in California for supporting ISIS

Xinhua, May 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

Two men were charged in the U.S. state of California Friday with conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.

Muhanad Badawi and Nader Elhuzayel, both 24, were arrested late Thursday by special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Elhuzayel was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport and Badawi at an apartment in Anaheim, according to local media reports.

An affidavit in support of a criminal complaint was filed in Santa Ana federal court, outlining an alleged scheme in which Badawi and Elhuzayel used social media to discuss IS and terrorist attacks, and expressed a desire to die as martyrs and made arrangements for Elhuzayel to leave the United States to join IS, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In recorded conversations last month, Badawi and Elhuzayel " discussed how it would be a blessing to fight for the cause of Allah, and to die in the battlefield," and they referred to IS as "we", said the affidavit.

On May 7, Badawi allowed Elhuzayel to use his credit card to purchase a one-way airline ticket for travel from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv, Israel, via Istanbul, Turkey, on a Turkish Airlines flight scheduled to depart Thursday.

According to the allegations in the complaint, Elhuzayel admitted after being read his Miranda rights that he planned to disembark in Istanbul to join IS and did not intend to travel on to Israel.

If convicted of the charge in the criminal complaint, Badawi and Elhuzayel each would face up to 15 years in federal prison for conspiring to provide material support to IS, prosecutors said.

Elhuzayel's parents said their son was traveling to spend the summer with relatives, not to join a terrorist group.

"Completely beyond any sensible thoughts," his father Salem Elhuzayel was quoted by local media. "He is not the type. He is a good kid."

Elhuzayel's parents said their son and Badawi were classmates at Cypress College.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) issued a statement saying the arrests were based on the two suspects' social media comments, in which they expressed support for IS. Both men had purchased plane tickets, with Elhuzayel bound for Turkey.

"ISIS uses social media to prey on impressionable people," according to MPAC, using an acronym of the Islamic State. " According to law enforcement, ISIS puts out close to 100,000 tweets per day and there are at least 50,000 ISIS-related Twitter accounts." Endite